By Lucy Ashton
More people in Dunbartonshire face “dying early and living their last years in pain”, as a result of SNP Government cuts.
MSP Jackie Baillie issued this warning after data revealed that the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area tops the table of regions where more people die annually due to lack of exercise.
And the Scottish Government’s sweeping cuts to active health campaigns and sport will contribute to the toll.
Cuts to the Active Healthy Lives programme, which promotes exercise and healthy eating, were only revealed after Jackie questioned the SNP government.
New data reveals 631 in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, including Dunbartonshire, die every year due to lack of exercise – well above the next closest contender, Lanarkshire, where 423 deaths are attributed to physical inactivity.
A further 228.2 disability-adjusted life years in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde – years spent living with diseases such as cancers, strokes or heart disease – can also be attributed to lack of exercise.
More than 3,000 deaths in Scotland can be attributed to physical inactivity, according to public health statistics published this month, with cancer and cardio-vascular disease accounting for around a third.
Dame Jackie Baillie and Health Secretary Neil Gray.
But Health Secretary Neil Gray confirmed that the SNP Government is cutting £1.2m from the Active Healthy Lives programme – which focused on promoting physical activity and diet and healthy weight – in response to questioning by Dumbarton constituency MSP Jackie.
Earlier this month, the SNP Government announced a £23.7m cut to active travel funding – a key opportunity for exercise.
And analysis by Scottish Labour published in June exposed a £400 million cumulative cut to grassroots sports, as a direct result of SNP cuts to Council budgets.
Jackie Baillie, also Scottish Labour’s Health spokesperson, said: “The findings of this report are stark – those who do the least physical activity are at most risk of living shorter lives, with their last years often spent in agony.
“Yet this SNP government has presided over cuts to grassroots sport and active travel that is creating an ill-health time bomb for the future.
“More Scots will die early and live their last years in pain unless this SNP government acts quickly to ensure these cuts don’t cause permanent harm.
“Scottish Labour want to improve opportunities for exercise so that all Scots have a fair chance of enjoying later life.”
- Estimating the burden of disease attributable to physical inactivity in Scotland
- An estimated 3,185 deaths and over eleven thousand (11,474) disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are attributable to physical inactivity in Scotland.
- More than 80% of these deaths and DALYs are due to the ‘very low’ physical activity category (those doing less than 30 mins/week of moderate physical activity per week).
- These estimations are larger than those produced by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study due to differences in methodology, detailed in the report.
- Estimates indicate substantial regional inequalities within Scotland in the burden of disease attributable to physical inactivity.
- Efforts to reduce the disease burden of physical inactivity should focus on those who are least active.
Highest number of deaths attributable to physical inactivity, by NHS health board
|
Health board |
Number of deaths |
|
Ayrshire and Arran |
281 |
|
Borders |
78 |
|
Dumfries and Galloway |
124 |
|
Fife |
253 |
|
Forth Valley |
198 |
|
Grampian |
249 |
|
Greater Glasgow and Clyde |
631 |
|
Highland |
188 |
|
Lanarkshire |
423 |
|
Lothian |
386 |
|
Orkney |
13 |
|
Shetland |
12 |
|
Tayside |
251 |
|
Western Isles |
25 |
Age-standardised disability-adjusted life years (DALY) attributable to physical inactivity, by NHS health board
|
Health board |
Number of DALY |
|
Ayrshire and Arran |
249.5 |
|
Borders |
190.3 |
|
Dumfries and Galloway |
226.9 |
|
Fife |
244.6 |
|
Forth Valley |
242.9 |
|
Grampian |
170.7 |
|
Greater Glasgow and Clyde |
228.2 |
|
Highland |
182.3 |
|
Lanarkshire |
252.5 |
|
Lothian |
165.9 |
|
Orkney |
149.8 |
|
Shetland |
142.4 |
|
Tayside |
196.8 |
|
Western Isles |
237.8 |
Scottish Government cuts to Active Healthy Lives fund: Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour Party): To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to the Finance and Public Administration Committee on 3 September 2024, whether it will provide a full breakdown of the £27.7 million in budget savings that were listed under the category “other” in the Health and Social Care portfolio. S6W-2973
Neil Gray: On the 3 September 2024, the Scottish Government pre-budget fiscal update outlined “other” savings measures of £27.7M in the Health and Social Care budget, with funding redirected to support emerging pressures within Health and Social Care, not used for wider SG spending.
The breakdown is as follows:
|
Health and Social Care |
Total |
Reprioritisation Description |
|
Portfolio by Level 3 Budget |
£m |
|
|
Early Years |
2.9 |
Savings made across budget lines including breastfeeding and young patient family fund. Also includes reprofiling and reducing planned activity on some smaller projects. |
|
Active Healthy Lives |
1.2 |
Reduced activity on programmes focussing on physical activity and diet and healthy weight. |
|
Access Support |
3.2 |
Emerging underspends following a review of anticipated funding requirements for 2024-25. |
|
Corporate Support and Resilience |
8.8 |
Includes a reduction in health emergency contingency budgets amd release of historical budget to support board pressures. |
|
Other Board Services and Misc Income |
9.2 |
Includes reprofiling of activity in relation to women’s health, innovation Fellowship Scheme and reducing contingency funding for transvaginal mesh alongside one off savings in stock and pausing investment in digital trial developments within Health Research. |
|
Other |
2.3 |
A range of smaller savings including anticipated 5% savings of total budget for Sportscotland, underspends in e-Pharmacy and re-profiling of digital spend. |
|
|
27.6 |
|
Cumulative cuts to grassroots sport and active travel
Local government spending on sports facilities:
|
Year |
Total expenditure on sports facilities (£000) |
Cut vs 2010-11 (£000) |
|
2010-11 |
260,030 |
|
|
2011-12 |
247,178 |
-12,852 |
|
2012-13 |
245,527 |
-14,503 |
|
2013-14 |
252,401 |
-7,629 |
|
2014-15 |
233,674 |
-26,356 |
|
2015-16 |
229,895 |
-30,135 |
|
2016-17 |
221,149 |
-38,881 |
|
2017-18 |
208,587 |
-51,443 |
|
2018-19 |
201,119 |
-58,911 |
|
2019-20 |
199,333 |
-60,697 |
|
2020-21 |
216,883 |
-43,147 |
|
2021-22 |
226,580 |
-33,450 |
|
2022-23 |
234,349 |
-25,681 |
|
TOTAL CUMULATIVE CUT |
-403,685 |
|
Top picture: The very popular Levengrove Park Run in Dumbarton.